It's a James Cain Festival....

Well, at least it is for A Reader's Respite ever since we discovered this founder of the American hard-boiled detective novel. We were smitten with Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice (if you missed our musings about that novel, check here) and curiosity led us to find out what else the man had written.



Imagine our surprise when we discovered Cain had quite an impressive bibliography to his name, including the novel Mildred Pierce.

Yes, for all of our fellow vintage film buffs, that Mildred Pierce. Turns out, Cain's novel was the basis for the Oscar-winning film starring Joan Crawford in 1945. (Is there anyone out there who hasn't seen this movie?) So A Reader's Respite set out on a mission: to get our grubby hands on this book.

Did you know that the studio wanted Bette Davis for the role? Davis turned it down because she didn't want to portray a character that had a 17 year old daughter.

Once we accomplished that task, we couldn't pull our nose out of the book. Like Postman, the movie had the inevitable deviations from the novel, probably because the book has deeper, darker psychological undercurrents.

Cain's characterization of Mildred herself is nothing short of genius...the reader understands her faults with sympathy and cheers her gumption even when it is misguided.

And Veda? We know you're all waiting to hear about Veda....the girl is just as much of a snotty little b*tch as Ann Blyth presented on the Silver Screen. Honestly, has there ever been a more evil daughter to ever grace the pages of a novel? Cain was a master, truly.

You can print this photo out and aim darts at Veda. But leave Crawford alone...we love her, wire hangars and all.

Michael Curtiz directed the 1945 film version that saved Joan Crawford's career. It was nominated for six Oscars that year, winning for Best Actress. Crawford's career was in the proverbial toilet at the time and Curtiz actually made her audition with a screen test (big slap in the face) before awarding her the role.


Next stop on our Cain adventure? Double Indemnity.

Cover Hijinks of the Past

Even fifty years ago the marketing department of the book world was in full swing. Take, for example, the cover of A Reader's Respite's vintage paperback of James Cain's classic noir tale, The Postman Always Rings Twice:

Published in the late 1940's by Pocket Books, the art department came up with a drawing of the femme fatale Cora as a sultry blond bombshell.

Nevermind that the Cora that Cain created has black, curly hair and a darker complexion....so much so that by only page three, she's lashing out because people might think her Mexican.

don't do it, Cora!!!

Of course, it's worth noting that the first hit film version of Cain's classic, featuring the sex-pot and couldn't-be-blonder-if-she-tried Lana Turner, had been released the year prior to the Pocket Books' edition and was a big influence on the cover art.

Bad cover or no, this short novel that packs a huge punch is still worth picking up even today. Despite gallant attempts, no filmmaker could ever convey the sheer psychological twisted-ness (is that a word? it is now.) of drifter Frank Chamber and waitress Cora Papadakis as they plot and scheme to do away with Cora's poor husband, Nick.

That Cain could manage to build such an incredible amount of tension and bring it to such an explosive and tragic ending in just 121 pages is nothing short of genius.

Worth a read folks, if you ever come across an old copy somewhere.